The present invention relates to home network computer systems, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a method and apparatus for providing 10Base-T Ethernet compatible data communications between computers and peripherals over an ordinary single twisted pair phone line without conflicting with other signals, such as POTS and xDSL signals, being transmitted over the same single twisted pair phone lines.
As more appliances and items in the home become computer controlled and as more homes obtain multiple computer systems, such as one for the xe2x80x9chome officexe2x80x9d and one for the family, the importance of having a home network system to allow data communications between the various computer systems and peripherals within a home is ever increasing.
Baseband Ethernet technology is currently being used by many businesses for data interconnection between computers. One common widely used baseband ethernet technology being used is the 10BASE-T network. The 10BASE-T network has an operating rate of 10 Mbps, utilizes CSMA/CD access protocol, baseband signaling and Manchester data encoding.
A standard 10BASE-T network interface card (NIC) is typically used in the construction of a 10 Mbps Ethernet LANs utilizing unshielded twisted-pair wire. Under the 10BASE-T standard, workstations are cabled using twisted-pair wire (one twisted pair for transmission and one twisted pair for reception) to medium access units (MAUs). Each MAU normally has a builtin attachment interface unit (AIU) that can be cabled to a coaxial transceiver attached to coaxial cable.
However, because home phone lines are traditionally considered to be narrow band and therefore only permit low data rate signals, bringing Ethernet to the home environment would require new wiring in virtually every home.
Some proposed solutions to home networking include standard modem technology and digital subscriber line (xDSL) technology. One of the problems with standard modem technology is that it is currently limited to data speeds of 56 kbps and requires very complicated circuitry. Although, xDSL technology can transmit data at a much higher rate that standard modem technology, up to 4 Mbps, the cost of implementing such is very high and requires very complicated modulation methods.
Another proposed solution is the wireless solution. Wireless solutions would also be very expensive to implement and do not have the reliability of a wired solution.
One existing home network product is that of TUT Systems, the HR1300T. The HR1300T uses a xe2x80x9ctime modulation line codexe2x80x9d to provide an in-home network over existing phone lines. However, this modulation scheme only provides a slow 1.3 Mbps data rate.
Therefore, as can be appreciated, there is a need to provide an easy-to-install-and-use, low cost home networking solution that can provide high data rates.
The present invention overcomes the above identified problems as well as other shortcomings and deficiencies of existing technologies by providing a method and apparatus that enables seamless 10Base-T Ethernet compatible data communications between computers and peripherals over an ordinary single twisted pair phone line without conflicting with other signals, such as POTS and xDSL signals, being transmitted over the same single twisted pair phone lines.
The present invention further provides a device for seamlessly providing 10BASE-T compatible data communications over an ordinary single twisted pair home phone line between multiple computers, between computers and peripherals, and between multiple peripherals. Each component that is to communicate over the home phone line will have a 10BASE-T compatible network interface card (NIC) for interfacing with the device. The device includes a Manchester coder; differential converter; baseband processor; modulator; demodulator; filters; amplifiers, and a transmit/receive switch. The transmit/receive switch is used to switch the device between a transmit mode and a receive mode. When signal are being transmitted from a component the Manchester coder decodes signals received from the NIC. The differential converter is used to convert the differential signal received from the NIC to a single signal. The modulator is used to modulate the signal to a RF signal using a modulation scheme such as one of the PSK, QPSK, QAM or MCM schemes. A filter is used to limit the bandwidth of the modulated signal and a driver is used to amplify the signal to match the impedance of the phone line. When the device is receiving a signal from the phone lines, the signal is filtered with a bandpass filter and amplified with an amplifier. The signal is demodulated using the appropriate demodulation scheme. The demodulated signal is differentially encoded. The Manchester coder will encode the signal and send the signal to the receiving NIC.